"Eric…" I said quietly, and he turned away from the flames to pull me into his arms.
In front of us, Fantasia was an inferno, and we could hear sirens approaching fast. Two large fire trucks pulled in and came to a halt as men jumped off of the sides and out of the cab. They got hooked up to the fire hydrants as fast as possible, and started to pour water onto the building. We could hear the glass liquor bottles inside, each of them finally becoming too hot and exploding out. The entire building creaked as we watched part of the roof cave in, and we heard more sounds of broken glass as the flames continued to rage.
My heart broke at the sight in front of us, and something suddenly occurred to me. "Where's Pam?"
"She'll be here soon." He said after a moment, and I knew that he had only just called her to him.
We waited for several more minutes, when Pam suddenly appeared next to us. "Are you okay?" She asked Eric quickly with a slight edge to her voice, and he nodded.
"We were not inside. But someone knew we were coming. This fire hadn't been going for too long before we arrived." I could feel his thoughts calculating, and he put on a neutral business face, "Start setting up construction crews, and a design team. I want this place rebuilt as fast as possible." He looked her straight in the eye, "I'm putting you in charge of this…don't disappoint me."
"Never." She promised, and pulled out her phone to start planning.
"Get ahold of Nick and Nathan, I want them both in Bon Temps before we get there." She nodded, and he took me back to the car. We got to my house in silence, and once the luggage was in the house, the driver left with the car. I walked up the porch behind Eric, and jumped in surprise when I glanced behind me to see a male lion standing there. Nick and Nathan had been around since Eric had first hired them, even on their days off, but I had never seen them in their animal forms. He gave me an odd grin, and then turned and trotted off toward the woods. I noticed a pair of eyes that I assumed was a second lion staring at me from within the tree line.
When I get inside, Eric is already upstairs, unpacking my suit case for me. "I wish you would let me hire someone to do housework for you." Eric tells me as I step into the bedroom.
"No way, I like doing my own housework. It helps me keep the house the way I want it." I tell him, and grab his hand, making him sit with me on the bed. "Are you sure you're okay? I know Fangtasia meant a lot to you."
"It was just a building. Nothing that can't be replaced." He kisses me lightly, and I return the gesture.
"No it wasn't. You used to always spend as much time as you could there, and it's where you did most of your Sheriff stuff. I know you can't be okay with someone destroying it like that. Talk to me." I can feel his hurt from watching the bar burn, but underneath it is a strong streak of determination, and anger.
He's quiet for a long time, before finally sighing and speaking quietly. "When the bar is rebuilt…I'm going to give it over to Pam. She has more interest in the place than I do, and once she has everything running smoothly, I'm going to give up my position as Sheriff with her as my suggested replacement." He looks me in the eye, and smiles. "I want to take you places. I want to show you the lands of my birth, and travel and introduce you to so many new things. Would you want to do this with me?"
I'm speechless for a minute, before nodding slowly, "I would love to see the world with you, but what about everything here? You can't just pick up and leave Pam all alone, she still needs you around. She won't admit it, but she loves you and she wants you to stay around, and how can you be sure she wants to be Sheriff?" I ask, and he chuckles.
"You know, sometimes I forget how much you care for others. Pam hasn't always been the nicest to you, and here you are worrying about her like she's your child. But she will be alright. I have asked her in the past about becoming Sheriff, and she promises that she wouldn't mind. She's old enough to handle it, and I know she would do well. For all the grief I give her, I am quite proud of how she's come into the world. I see her living to be just as old as I am now, if not much older." He stands up, and moves to the window.
I join him and see one of the lions stalking around just inside the brush, and he puts an arm around me. "I'll make you safe again, I promise." He says suddenly, and I look up at him.
"I don't need to be safe…I just need to be with you. That's all it takes for me to feel safe." I lean against him, and he holds me to his side.
"I know that, but something has to be done." A touch of anger reaches me through the bond. "The vampire world needs to be shown that you are mine and that I will never give you up without a fight. Somehow…I need to make it obvious to all those who would attack us that they cannot win." His voice is fierce, and I smile at the protective feelings coming from him. He bends slightly, and kisses the top of my head. "When I find out who burned my bar, and tried to have our plane diverted, they will answer for themselves. These threats can't be ignored any longer, and I won't tolerate someone trying to harm me and mine." He's working himself up, and I can tell that he's close to full anger, so I put a reach up and place my hand on his cheek.
"Stop." I tell him, and he raises an eyebrow at what I could mean. "Stop trying to put this all on yourself. I am not defenseless with my fae powers, and we are a team. If we're going to be left alone by the vampire community, then we need to show ourselves as a united front. We'll get through this together, and then you can whisk me away to anywhere on the planet you want. I'll even let you buy me a shiny new car." I smile and he shakes with a slight laughter.
"You're going to regret that. I'll have you driving the most expensive car in the country." I smile, and smack his arm playfully.
"I don't doubt it." I say, and smile out toward the yard, before pulling his head down and kissing him with strong determination. "No one will take you away from me. Never." I tell him, and he nods.
The next night, when we arrive at the bar, I just wanted to cry. An inspector was waiting for us to arrive, and handed Eric a stack of papers. "The building is not salvageable, but if you want to try and retrieve anything, then go ahead. At this time we are ruling this as arson, and are attempting to put together suspects, but we're not having any luck. It's stable to walk in, just be careful of the debris on the floor. Personally I doubt anything short of stone survived, but maybe you'll get lucky." After Eric signed off on a few forms, and handed them back to the man, he left. We walked through the charred remains of the main door frame, and looked around the room. Everything from the floor to ceiling is black, and the smell of smoke still hangs in the air. I look up at where his throne once sat, and see that nothing is left of it. Glass shards are scattered everywhere, and I see that the highest concentration of glass is behind the bar. Only black pieces remain of the tables and chairs and the booths that lined the walls are not much better off. At least their metal frames are still standing.
We check his office, and find similar conditions as in the bar, with everything burnt to ash and char. The basement door is still intact, but we have to force it to creak open. I'm thankful that the stairs going down are stone, and we walk down with Eric keeping a close eye on the ceiling.
The metal hatch in the corner is slightly warped from the heat that had been reaching it, and Eric has to force it to open. We drop down into the hallway, and I am relieved to see that it is untouched. Our room at the end of the hall is still in pristine condition, and he assumes that Pam's is alright as well.
By the time we get back outside, Pam is there talking to a contractor, and Eric joins in the conversation.
He's explaining to them the first steps in removing the remains of the old building, while I look around the street. I'm not sure why, but something is bothering me, pushing at my mind. Then I realize that it's the sensation I get when a vampire is trying to glamour me. My eyes flit around the street, and I push out from my shields, searching for the void. Finally I find it, and my gaze falls to an alley just down the street a little ways. A dark figure is standing partially hidden behind one of the walls, and when I see him, he takes a step back out of my view. But his void doesn't disappear, so I know he is still there.
I pull on the bond, and Eric is next to me in an instant, grabbing my hand. "What's the matter?" He leans closer and whispers, with worry written all over his face.
"In that alley over there, there's a vampire trying to glamour me." I talk as quietly as possible, and Eric calls Pam over, quickly telling her to go to the back of the alley to cut anyone off from running. She disappears in less than second, and he waits a moment before moving to enter the front of the alley.
I watch as Eric wrestles with someone for a moment, and then suddenly he is jumping up onto the buildings top, and is gone.
Eric returns to me a moment later, and takes my hand. "He got away, but Pam is tracking him, she'll be able to handle herself. Let's get you home." He moves to walk toward the car, but instead of letting him go, I grab his hand and focus. Through the bond I can feel his confusion, so I send him reassurance.
I think of my house, in all of its recently refurbished glory, and with a loud pop we are suddenly there in the driveway. Letting go of my hand, he bends over slightly, and puts his hands on his knees. "Well…that was exciting." With a chuckle, I touch the bond, and know that he is mind is spinning from the sudden movement.
"You'll get used to it." I promise, and take his hand as we walk up toward the front door. When we are almost to the porch, I hear a loud growl and a small roar, and a lion comes bounding around the side of the house. But as soon as he sees who it is, he goes quiet, and comes closer taking large breaths. He sniffs at us, as though he's not sure if we're real or not, and I step off down the porch. Hesitantly, I reach forward, and put my hand on his head. The other lion that I know is around comes out of the tree line, and I can feel his mind getting closer.
Reaching past my shields, I touch on their animal minds for the first time, and quickly identify the lion I'm petting as Nathan. Nick steps up beside him, and I laugh lightly, "I can still hear you two." I pull my mind away from theirs after a second, and let them have their privacy back as I compare them. Nathan is slightly larger, but Nick is more heavily muscled and has a slightly darker color fur. Looking closer I can see that Nick's eyes are a lighter color green than Nathans, as well as he has softer features. When I go back up to Eric on the porch, I feel him wondering at my mischievous mindset, and I make him understand by giving him a kiss and muttering to him loud enough for the lions to hear. "Nick is definitely a cuter lion, with prettier eyes." I say, and hear the loud purring noise coming from the lion in question. Nathan looks at his brother, and growls slightly, then nips his tail and they go back into the trees. Eric laughs as they trot off, and puts his arm around me.
"You're good at creating family feuds." He says, and I know he's thinking of Pam and how she'd acted toward me at first.
Just then I hear a truck coming up my driveway, and turn to see Jason pulling in. "Speaking of family feuds…" I mutter to him. I can tell from the way he's driving that he's unhappy about something. When he gets out, and storms up to the porch, I don't miss the fact that he's in uniform.
"What the hell is going on Sook? I got a call at the station that you're keeping lions on your property, what the fuck is that about?" As if on cue, Nick comes running out of the trees, and Jason's eyes go wide. "Holy shit!" He yells, and pulls his gun to aim it at Nick's head.
"Jason, stop!" I tell him, and run forward to push his hand down as Nick crouches and snarls menacingly. "It's okay, their just weres." Nathan appears from behind Jason's truck, and he stares between the two of them as he puts his firearm away.
"What the hell is going on?" He asks again and I grab his arm, trying to take him inside, but he drags behind me trying to keep his eyes on the lions as they watch us go. Eric opens the door for us, and I sit Jason down in the living room while I grab him a beer, and finally sit down across from him.
"Someone has been…messing with us. When we were flying back, the pilots tried to take us to the wrong place, and now Fangtasia has been burned to the ground. We're not sure who's doing it yet, but I want you to try to understand that Eric and I are in danger, and we need the lions to help protect us. But their actually Nick and Nathan." I hope that he takes it seriously, and pays attention, but I'm only disappointed by his response.
"That was Nick and Nathan?" He asks, and I roll my eyes. Of course that's the part he'd be most interested in.
Eric huffs an unnecessary breath, then stands up, and I can feel the slight anger and aggravation he feels toward Jason. "Did you not hear anything she just said but that? Someone is fucking with us, and maybe trying to kill or take your sister, and all you have to say is that you didn't think that Nick and Nathan were supes? Why the hell would I hire guards for her and not have them be powerful?"
I take Eric's hand, and pull him back down next to me. "Listen, Sook, if you're in danger then maybe…you two should come hide out at my house. No one really knows where it is, and I can protect you." Eric is about to respond harshly when I squeeze his hand, and start to speak.
"Jason, I really appreciate the offer, I do. But the only reason that no one knows where your house is, is because they get so drunk every time they go there that they forget. Besides, do you really want Eric to kill one of your drunk friends for hitting on me?" In his head he imagines that exact thing happening, and sees my point.
"Yea, I guess that wouldn't be too good. But what can I do to help?" He wants to try and keep me safer somehow, but is drawing a blank in his mind.
"Keep the local police off our backs as much as possible." Eric speaks up, and I nod to show I'm agreeing with him.
Jason stays a short while longer, promising to do what Eric asked, before finally leaving in his truck. He walks there slowly, but doesn't see the lions as he had hoped to.
I'm in the shower shortly after, while Eric makes some important calls and works on his laptop. He'd had internet installed several months prior, and liked to work from the house whenever he could, using the dining room table as a desk.
When I step out of the shower, I start to dry off, when he's suddenly there kissing down my neck. Lifting me up, he takes me down to his cubby, and we seal ourselves in.
The next morning, I wake up, and immediately know that something is wrong. Faint sounds can be heard from above, and when I drop my shields, I can tell that someone is there. A supe that I don't know is in my kitchen, and I reach further to find Nick and Nathan in the back yard. Nick is badly hurt, and Nathan is unconscious. I get dressed with spare clothes from under the bed, while I set up a plan. Rushing over to the wall, I push a small button hidden within one of the lights. I smile as I hear the solid metal wall closing over the entrance to the room, and give Eric a kiss before popping out to the back yard. I end up about twenty feet away from the brothers, just inside the tree line, and see that Nick is trying to waking up Nathan.
"Nick?" I say quietly, and he turns with a growl, until he sees who it is. Then he makes a strange sort of whining noise, and I get up close to them. I can see a long gash down his side, and blood is coming from one of his ears. It hurts me to see them in such distress, and I get on my knees to look at Nathan.
The other supe hit him over the head. We don't know how, but he managed to sneak up on us. I can feel my hands glowing with my anger, and Nick takes a step back. What are you? He asks in his mind, and I decide that it's time to tell him.
"I'm part fae." He nods, understanding, and I look down at my hands. But I am shocked to see my light is now a deep pink color, and somehow I know what it will do. "Trust me." I say to Nick, and put my hands over Nathan's head.
The pink light flows into him, and I can feel the energy leaving me. When I feel that I should stop, I do so, and a second later Nathan opens his eyes. Nick steps forward, and looks at Nathan, who nods to him. They touch heads lightly, and purr for a moment, before I look more pointedly at Nick. "You're turn." I say, and the light washes over him.